UAE, IRENA launch $1bn global platform to accelerate renewable energy at COP26

Energy Transition Accelerator Financing (ETAF) Platform, a new global climate finance facility to accelerate the transition to renewable energy in developing countries, has been launched

The UAE and the International Renewable Energy Agency

(IRENA) have announced the launch of the global platform on the sidelines of COP26, in Glasgow, the United Kingdom.

The UAE committed $400mn in funding provided by the Abu Dhabi Fund for Development (ADFD) toward the platform’s goal of securing a minimum of $1 billion in total funding.

Through co-financing, ETAF will aim to mobilise an additional $2 billion in energy transition investments, targeting a total deployment of 1.5 GW of clean renewable energy generation and storage by 2030.

“The new ETAF platform reinforces our long-standing commitment to support positive climate action in developing and vulnerable countries,” said Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, and Head of the UAE delegation to the 26th Conference of Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change - UNFCCC (COP26).

“As a signatory to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), UAE fundamentally believes, we must work together globally, in partnerships, to mitigate the effects of climate change,”

Al Nahyan sad that the UAE was proud to act decisively in pushing forward a responsible, sustainability-led agenda, and in assisting other nations to benefit from the significant advantages of renewable energy.”